Thread so far...

hi Ian,
i was wondering if you have a spare moment to help me with something, 
im only new to growing herbs and going good so far..

im from SYD Australia

yet when it comes to my Coriander, i planted it about 7month ago which 
seemed to like its position because it really took off.... it is 
starting to flower, the problem i am having is the leaves have become 
smaller and smaller...

to me, it looks like the taller it get (to flower) the smaller the 
leaves become, i use allot of its leaves for cooking....

is there a way to keep the leaves thick and rich which flavor? should 
i just keep cutting it back and keep it short??

cheers thanks for your time...

Ian writes Hi,

You did well to get such good growth over a Sydney winter.  You must have had it in good sun. But it sounds like it's "bolted" after it's great start, i.e. gone to seed. It'll do that if it maybe ran out of water for a while, although Sydney has done well recently for rain.

I'm from Toowoomba and we just haven't  had rain for yonks so we have to keep hand watering or everything dies. I find the best way to avoid my herbs going to seed is to keep cutting them back. Sometimes I have to cut more than I can use which seems like an awful waste, but it seems to work for me. Once they go to seed they lose flavour. With coriander, I'd just start again.  Get another punnet of seedlings and start a new batch.  Some of my purist gardening friends are horrified at such an attitude, but it doesn't cost all that much and, if you're a real flavour lover like me, it's well worth it.

We are all different and have different priorities.